Challenger Sports - British Soccer Camp

REVIEW: Challenger British Soccer Camp

My daughter Sophia is not our sports enthused and talented child. She’s always excited about the nature and science themed camps offered by the county every year, but we have to give her a little nudge to make sure she gets as much exercise as we’d like. We’ve heard a lot of praise for the British Soccer Camps run by Challenger every year but whenever I brought them up she’d been very unsure about giving them a try. So every year we’ve passed them by with a ‘maybe next year’ until JMM Meghan approached us about possibly reviewing the camp for Joy Troupe. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try it out. Sophia was not so sure

”You want me to do what?”

“You like soccer. You watched all the World Cup Games with your father.”

“I know, but it’s really hot outside in July.”

“I’ll pack extra water.”

“Well, Ok. But only because Mrs Meghan asked.”

I only share this conversation because I want you to know that my child did not enter the week super excited about spending the entire week playing soccer. The coaches were going to have to win her over. And I want you to know that Sophia had ‘THE MOST AMAZING WEEK EVER”. I won’t lie and say she now wants to join a soccer team and play every weekend (I did ask). But I did pick up a bouncing, happy child who had fun every single day this week. She raved about the ‘really, cool’ games they played every day. She came home telling silly jokes that she learned from her coaches. And we heard all about the pretend world cup the kids played against each other all week long. My daughter is very tiny and when they figured out that her shirt was going to be way too big for her on the first day, they put in an order to make sure they got in a smaller one for her before the week was out.

Not only were the imported coaches very good about engaging with the children but they did go a couple of extra steps to make sure everyone was safe and happy. Despite the temperature being over 90 degrees over the entire week they made sure that there was plenty of water and water breaks for all the children and that they took plenty of breaks so they were not over heating. The camp also featured a daily swimming break where everyone, despite the wide range of swimming abilities–Sophia is just beginning to swim, but still requires a float–had fun. I was extremely impressed with how well they handled the heat and sun. Not once throughout the week did any of the children look overly burnt or in distress.

Sophia will definitely be attending the British Soccer Camp in following years. As will her sport-enthused little brother (who’s resentful he isn’t old enough this year). And if anyone is in need of something for a week in August you can find them through the Fairfax County Parktakes by searching for soccer camps or Challenger’s website.

Our week at camp was sponsored by Challenger in exchange for a review. My opinions are my own and completely honest.

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